By Pauline Reneaux
Creatives are known for finding inspiration in the most unusual places. My inspiration for this month’s piece comes from one of John Wayne’s quotes, Courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyway. I know so many people who would tell you that this quote describes the place in life where they find themselves, for a variety of reasons. For me personally, as I work on completing my novels, I read and study everything I can get my hands on to sharpen my writing skills. Even though I do not plan to publish my novels for a few years, the whole idea of sending my books out into the world is exciting and scary, so John Wayne’s quote speaks to me. When I stumbled across this quote, I had just found a pair of my mom’s spurs from her barrel riding days as a young girl, so the combination of the two seemed perfect.
Maybe you are at a place in your life that is requiring courage like you have never known. I would encourage you to find a quote, Bible verse, or memento that helps you “saddle up” as you seek to hold on to your inner strength. Display these things so that you may see them every day as you face this journey. I recently stumbled upon Rachel Marie Martin’s definition of courage and I find it so moving.
Courage, the bravery it takes to decide to live today better than yesterday. To dare to challenge the norm. To live with fearlessness and to learn to let go of things that hold your heart back.
Being courageous, saddling up, while scary at times, can also be an exciting adventure that you can look forward to. It has been my life experiences that have given me plenty of material for my books, but in that process it has also forced me to be courageous when I did not want to be. Even though we all face different challenges in life, I think it is important for us to practice kindness toward ourselves and to those around us. However, I also think that we owe it to ourselves and others to share our stories because we just never know if our words can one day help someone else find their inner courage and saddle up in the face of fear.
Until next month…
Blessings, Pauline
To learn more about Pauline Reneaux, visit her blog at Pauline-Reneaux.com. She welcomes email at paulinereneauxwrite@gmail.com
